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Sentinel girls track down sixth straight title |
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Thursday, 04 February 2010 |
By STEVE MAZZONE
Sports writer
PROVIDENCE – Smithfield High coach John Marchand did the math and according to his calculations Thursday night’s Small Division Class Championship was up for grabs.
He assumed it was either his Sentinels or an equally-strong East Greenwich squad pulling out the potential a nail-biter.
Marchand got his nail-biter. Fortunately for him, it lasted for about four events. From there, the Sentinels took over and left the Providence Career and Technical Academy field house with a very-comfortable 135.5-110 win over the Avengers to claim their sixth straight team crown.
“I am tremendously proud of the girls. They’ve had a great year,” said Marchand, whose Sentinels finished second last week in the Bayha Division Championship. “We had to overcome some adversity today and great teams step up, and that’s what happened. I couldn’t be any more proud of them.”
Smithfield responded in the first hour of the meet from its biggest adverse circumstance. The Sentinels were competing without one of their star weight-throwers Amanda Clark, who was nursing a bad back. Clark was ranked No. 2 in the shot put and was third in the 20-pound weight in the class.
With its senior out of the picture, and a loss of a potential 14 or more points, Smithfield still managed to collect a total of 28 points in the two events. Georgia Elgar copped the weight throw with a distance of 37 feet, 9 ¾ inches and then led a 2-3-4 finish in the shot with a runner-up placement.
In the shot, Central Falls junior Aleide Fernandes took the event with a throw of 36-4. Elgar placed second at 34-1 ½. Senior Amy Falcao was third (30-5¼) and freshman Kerri Agrela was fourth (27-9¼).
“Really the points didn’t change on paper,” Marchand said. “It was just different people. We still managed with Amy Falcao, Georgia Elgar and Kerry to still grab the points we needed if we had Amanda.”
The Sentinels also had a gutsy performance from freshman Angela Ragosta in the 55-meter hurdles. She placed second behind Central Falls senior Cedra Dalomba. Dalomba broke the tape in 8.6 seconds, while Ragosta was timed in 9.0.
“She hit a hurdle and nearly went down in the trials,” Marchand said. “She maintained her balance and held on for second, which got her in the finals where she ended up second. That was big right there.”
Smithfield’s lone individual triumph came from Katie Meinertz in the 1,000-meter run. The talented senior clocked a winning time of 3:21.8. She was also second in the 3,000.
Smithfield, which scored in every event, also had a pair of second-place efforts from Kim Ezeama in the 55 dash (7.2) and the Renee Lapierre in the high jump (4-10).
Central Falls, a sixth-place finisher in the meet with 19 points, got some potential bad news with its all-state thrower Fernandes. The junior missed last week’s Sullivan Division Championship after pulling a muscle in her chest in a dual meet a week earlier.
Fernandes was cleared by her doctor to compete at the class meet and won the shot on her second throw of the night. But on her third attempt, the injury appeared to come back.
“She woke up fine and felt 100 percent on her second throw,” said Warriors’ head coach Ernest Fennell. “On her third throw, she strained it. We’ll just play it by ear.”
Fernandes, who is ranked No. 1 in the state in both the shot and the 20-pound weight, is unsure whether she’ll be able to take part in next Saturday’s state championship.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure,” said the C.F. standout, who did not compete in the 20-pound weight throw at the class meet due to her recurring injury. “I am going to try my best to get better by the states.”
The Raiders’ Dalomba maintained her consistency this season by winning the hurdles. She equaled her season best with her 8.6 clocking and is ranked second in the state behind South Kingstown’s Molly Reilly (8.4). Dalomba was also third in the 55 at 7.5. In that race, she was followed by sophomore teammates Angenia Jacobs (fourth, 7.5) and Saskia Morgan (fifth, 7.5).
Mount’s Ali Sayles captured the high jump at 4-10.
In the Large School Class Championships, which were held simultaneously with the Small School meet, La Salle Academy breezed to an easy win by collecting 144 points. Cumberland was fifth with 28 points and Woonsocket was eighth with 15.
The highlight of the night for the Clippers was a victory from Emily Trudeau in the shot put. Trudeau won with a heave of 35-7 ½. Cumberland also had a second-place effort from Kryssa LaChapelle in the weight at 39-7 ½.
East Providence’s Nichole Haar won the 55 hurdles with a time of 8.7. |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 13 February 2010 )
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